Sanjay Dutt aide withdraws plea against dropping of remission

Ibrahim Moosa Chauhan, jailed for delivering arms to actor Sanjay Dutt at the latter's residence prior to 1993 serial bomb blasts, has withdrawn his plea challenging cancellation of remission in the 10-year sentence awarded to him.
Maharashtra Government told a bench of Justice V K Tahilramani and Anuja Prabhudessai yesterday that Chauhan would be released from prison by March 24.
The Judges then asked Chauhan's lawyer Farhana Shah whether the petitioner wanted to continue with the hearing of his plea.
To this, the lawyer replied that as the petitioner would be released within a few days, he would not like to continue with the hearing and preferred to withdraw his plea.

Accordingly, the bench allowed Chauhan to withdraw the petition.
Dutt, who was also sentenced along with Chauhan to five years jail, was recently released from prison after he was granted remission in the sentence.

Chauhan too filed a petition seeking early release from jail on the same ground and challenged cancellation of remission granted to him.
Chauhan was initially granted remission in his 10-year sentence on account of good conduct and was to be released from prison in November 2015.
However, his remission was cancelled by Inspector General (prisons) recently on an adverse report, says the petition. Aggrieved, he moved the high court.

Dutt was sentenced to five years imprisonment by a TADA court but was released from jail recently. His jail term was reduced by 18 months on account of his good behaviour and work done by him in prison.
Chauhan pleaded he was similarly placed like Dutt and had displayed good behaviour in prison like the actor. He, therefore, should be given the same facility of remission on the lines of the remission granted to Dutt.
Chauhan claimed that the Inspector General (Prisons) had cancelled the remission granted to him "without applying his mind and with a malafide intention."
Chauhan's petition said that he was assigned the work

of gardening, cleaning toilets and water tanks in Nashik jail.
He accumulated remission on account of good work and behaviour. It was only because of his good conduct that he was granted 80 days special remission.
However, when he returned to jail after his parole expired on November 24, he was informed in a letter that his special remission had been cancelled, said Chauhan's petition.
Chauhan further claimed that this action was taken against him on the basis of a statement made by a prison inmate that he was not doing properly the work assigned to him in prison.
He had pleaded that this order of cancelling his remission be set aside but it was not considered by the authorities.

According to prosecution in 1993 bomb blast case, Chauhan had visited Dutt's house along with gangster Abu Salem and others on January 15, 1993 and informed him that they would deliver weapons the next day. Arms were delivered at Dutt's house and taken away later, except an AK-47 rifle which was found in possession of the actor for which he was convicted.
Arms and ammunitions were used in the serial blasts in which 257 people were killed and over 700 injured.